Page 11 of Eat My Moon Dust
“Janitor,” I grunted, bodily moving a small man aside with a calloused grip on his shoulder. His tendrils writhed, tasting the oil and grease embedded in my palms from years of work, then scooted away. No one else asked questions as I ushered my spats through the thick, stone doors.
“But you’re not a janitor,” Tahavir astutely observed.
“What was he talking about?” Reha asked, looking up at me for the first time in hours. Maybe it was petty of me as her father, but I left her hanging. She’d find out soon enough, and now that we were inside, my nerves were showing in the tips of my mane.
Unlike the historic exterior, the lobby was sleek and officious. Flags hung from the ceilings, displaying all of Samridve’s sister colonies around the galaxy, and the man behind the desk was dressed in a smart blue tabard and matching modesty hood to cover his tendrils. He smelled faintly of citrus oils and displayed his perfectly filed dental ridges in an almost human manner. I raised my brow. He needed more practice.
“Ah, Delegate Fareshi!” he greeted me. “It’s such a pleasure to see you.”
“Hi.” I cleared my throat, glancing down at Reha and the boys. My brood’s manes had fallen slack in shock. “I was hoping to talk with Ambassador Zufi today. Is he in?”
The clerk’s smile froze in place, and he blinked once, trying desperately not to look down at the children. He smoothed the front of his tabard and drew up a holoscreen with a privacy filter, scrolling through his schedule. “Hmm, it seems like he has fifteen beats between comms this afternoon. I can see if he’d be willing to slot you in.”
“Thanks. We’ll wait.”
“Wait for what? Baan!” Reha pulled on my hand, suddenly interested in what was happening.
“Later.” I gestured to the sofa across from the front desk and the boys bounced onto the cushions, hyped. “For now, we wait.”
And we did. For fuckingever.The spats were bored, especially when I refused to answer questions, but at least it gave me enough time to sever the link between Corsa and my cache accounts and take my name off of her unit’s lease. When the home tower’s AI requested my biometrics for confirmation, I excused myself to the bathroom, then remotely scanned my palm print and retinas. As bitter as I was, Reha and her brothers didn’t need to see that.
When I returned to them, all three lounging across each other with a limb here, wayward tendrils there, comparing media feeds and pondering what a “delegate” was, my heart felt lighter.Springyeven. By taking myself off that lease, I could affordrealstuff. No more insta-cuis or showing up in my work boots. I could get something nice to wear when I took them out. A tabard and dhoti, maybe. When was the last time I wore sandals?
“Delegate Fareshi? Ambassador Zufi will see you now.” The clerk leaned over his desk with a welcoming gesture towards the lift and my mood fell, tendrils cramping up again.
All of those little dreams were precarious though. If Zufi didn’t agree…
“Got it. Reha, Ladh, Taha, c’mon.”
They jumped up and ran to the lift, dancing on the balls of their feet. To their dismay though, the next clerk parked them on another sofa in another lobby, identical except with a view overlooking the old spice markets and their red awnings.
“Behave,” I told them, and they waved me off.
“We’ll be fine,” Ladh sighed.
“C’mon, Baan, you’re killing us,” Tahavir whined.
I grinned. “Later.”
Their collective groan gave me a chuckle I sorely needed before facing my… boss.
Zufi’s office was set up with traditional furnishings, the clay walls carefully carved with arches and geometric patterns; a low, faceted desk with three work surfaces set at a slant like a drafting table, thick floor cushions with more padding behind their circular seats to support the back, and intricately woven carpets that were so plush, my boots sank into them with each step.
“Hunar!” Zufi said, standing up from the floor with all four arms opened wide. The door closed with a soft hiss, and he ushered me in with a clap on the shoulder. I squinted at his baby-soft hands adorned with jewelry. “Sorry for the long wait,syali.I’m glad you came by. Care for a drink?”
I blinked at him, taken aback by the honorific. “I’m younger than you,” I blurted gracelessly as he poured me a brimey over ice.
“Oh really?” He blinked in surprise, taking in my dull coloring with a sympathetic wince. “Apologies.” He added an extra dash of the grey liquor to a tiny copper cup and held it out to me. Though I wanted to toss it back in one gulp more with every passing moment, I took a dainty, civilized sip and cradled it in my meaty palms like it was a bird’s egg. He motioned for me to sit as he tapped the desk and its slant flattened out.
“You couldn’t have come at a better time. I was going to comm you tomorrow anyway.”
“What for?”
When the desk between us stopped moving, he pointed at a spread of holoscreens scattered across its backlit surface. I flipped one towards me with a familiar gesture.
DELEGATION TO RENATA
APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION
